The Ace ops stared onward at the gigantic ape in disbelief. With fear in his eyes, Marrow muttered out, "W-What are we supposed to do against that?!"
As Evan continued to roar into the sky, he slammed his great mighty fists against his chest. His pure red eyes glowed in the night like two shining rubies. His stretched out armor barely glimmered from the setting moon.
Steeling her resolve, Harriet called out, "We need to get some airships out here, now!"
"Indeed, if a creature of that size were to reach Mantle and Atlas, who knows the damage it could do." Vine replied back to Harriet.
"Hold on! He's still just a kid, and you want to send the full might of Atlas on him!? There's got to be some other way. Maybe we can reason with him." Elm said in an angry and disapproving tone.
"Are you kidding me, Elm!? You want to reason with that thing!? He'll crush you to bits before you get the chance to!" Harriet responded back loudly.
"ENOUGH!" Clover yelled out, cutting through the chaos.
"Everyone listen up! While it's true we can't let him reach the cities, Evan is still a person. We will first attempt to restrain him and talk some sense back into him. If that fails and he begins to head out towards Atlas and Mantle, I'll contact the military and we'll subdue him with force. Any questions?" Clover continued.
As silence filled the rest of the Ace Ops, Clover continued on, "Good. Harriet, use your speed to keep him distracted. Marrow, use your semblance to keep him stationary. Elm and Vine, help me tie up his legs."
As Evan's roars faded into the icy landscape, he looked down at the Ace Ops. A vicious snarl crossed his massive face.
"You know what to do. Let's move out!" Clover declared.
Pulling his right arm back, Evan launched it towards the team.
"Stay!" Marrow called out, freezing the ape in its tracks. A confused look upon its face, it roared out in defiance.
Harriet, jumping onto the frozen arm, dashed up to the face of the creature. Equipping her bracers, she punched the ape in the face before running back down the arm. Clover, Elm and Vine ran up to the feet of the creature. Extending his fishing rod, Clover passed the end of the hook to Elm, who began to wrap it, and the wire's length, around the beast's legs before proceeding to toss the hook back to Clover. As Evan started to be freed from Marrow's semblance, his body responded to the momentum received from Harriet's punch.
Clover held the rod with all his might as the ape failed to keep his footing stable. Wobbling back and forth, Evan proceeded to fall forward into the ground. With a mighty boom, the very ground beneath them shook in response. Evan's tail swished about wildly as he tried to lift himself back up. Using his semblance, Vine stretched his hands and grabbed the tail.
Letting out a guttural roar, the beast's whole body began to twitch and convulse in response.
"His tail is making him vulnerable!" Vine called out to the others.
"Elm! Try to get Evan to see reason!" Clover yelled aloud.
Rushing up to Evan's face, she spoke with compassion and concern, "Kid, this isn't you! You gotta snap out of it!"
The beast, seemingly ignoring Elm's pleas, continued to face towards the ground as it continued to yell out in pain. Within its throat, it charged up a massive burst of energy. Opening its mouth, Evan released a blast into the earth below. The icy ground began to crack and break from the large blast. In response to the sheer force of the attack, Vine was forced to release his grip from Evan's massive tail as he, and the other Ace Ops, were launched backwards.
Pushing his legs apart, Evan snapped the wire that encircled them. Standing back up, Evan walked over to the entrance of the mine. Reaching down, he pulled a massive chunk of ice and rock out of the ground. Holding it above his head, he looked around for someone to throw it at.
"Hey! Over here! You big dumb ape!" Harriet yelled out to the creature, standing far away from the other Ace Ops. Rage crossing his face, Evan launched the gigantic boulder at her. Using her semblance, Harriet blitzed past the attack.
Trying once more, Elm called out to the massive creature. "Stop this! Please!" Glancing down towards her, Evan quickly snatched Elm into his hand, raising her up to face him. Placing Elm in between his massive palms, Evan roared as he proceeded to squeeze her in between his hands. Her aura began to shimmer and tried in vain to protect her as it started to break. In pain, Elm cried out, "EVAN!"
Seemingly in response, the rampaging beast stopped its echoing roars. His vice-like grip loosening, Elm stared at Evan. "C-Can you hear me? Do you remember us?" Elm pleaded to Evan.
Staring at the woman held in his palms, Evan's face began to slowly morph from one of pure rage to one of recognition. Nodding to Elm's questions, he proceeded to look around at his surroundings. Seeing the destruction he had caused, Evan took a few steps back, still holding Elm in his hands.
Opening his mouth, he tries to vocalize and articulate his thoughts. With no success, Evan let out a few low grunts instead. Kneeling onto the ice, he gently lowered Elm to the ground. To the side, the other Ace Ops looked on at the scene before them. "I-Is it o-over?" Marrow hesitantly asked the others.
"It seems to be so." Vine calmly responded.
"Well, what are we supposed to do now? Look at him! We can't exactly bring him back to Atlas like that!" Harriet said to the others.
In the distance, the moon began to finally recede into the distance as the sun started to rise. Its first few golden rays shone on the small team. Letting out a loud roar, Evan began to shrink in size. His brown fur and gigantic muscles quickly receded as if they never were there in the first place. Upon returning back to his normal size, Evan collapsed to the ground. Rushing up to the teen, Elm examined him.
"He's alright. Looks like he passed out." She replied to the others.
"I've never seen a faunus do something like THAT before. Who is this guy? He transforms under the light of the moon and turns back to normal once the sun comes up. He's like some kind of werewolf." Marrow explained.
"If the moon is what caused him to transform, some precautions need to be made so something like that doesn't happen again. Ironwood needs to know about this once we get back. I'll contact the Bullhead to get over here as soon as possible. Until then, we'll just have to wait."
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Dreaming once again, Evan found himself in a place completely different from what he usually saw. In the sky, a large moon shone downwards. And unlike Remnant's moon, this one was entirely intact.
Various buildings surrounded him, each of them being either damaged or had collapsed into the ground. Shockingly, he found himself as that giant ape monster once more. Below him, small green creatures ran for cover as he attempted to do anything. Failing to do so, he merely watched as the beast stomped about the area.
In the distance he could see other giant apes, each of which wearing colorful armor similar to his. However, one of these apes was different from all of the others, as he wore a set of black and yellow armor instead. Each of the creatures continued to rampage across the city as explosions erupted all around them.
From the ground, small lasers shot out and blasted at some of the beasts. However, the attack seemed to do practically nothing as the apes opened their mouths and shot out a massive beam towards their attackers.
Amidst the various roars, a lone voice could faintly be heard.
"Let's see how tough you are after this..."
In the distance, a single blast travelled into the sky, destroying the moon as his vision quickly filled with white.
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Jolting forwards, Evan awoke from his sleep. Finding himself secured in a seat, he turned to see the Ace Ops looking towards him. Each of them wore a different expression on their face. Elm and Clover seemed concerned, Harriet and Marrow looked uneasy, and Vine seemed neutral, almost indifferent to the current situation.
"You alright kid? You passed out after the sun came up." Elm asked Evan.
"I'm…I'm fine. I just had another dream…" Evan began to say as he remember what had happened before he passed out.
"More importantly, are you guys okay!? I'm so sorry about what happened back there! I couldn't…I shouldn't have…it was–"
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Evan turned to face Clover, who had a comforting smile upon his face. "It's alright Evan. Nobody got severely hurt. Elm's aura took most of the damage, but she's ok. You weren't in control of yourself, so don't beat yourself up over it, alright?" Clover explained.
Softly nodding in response, Evan lowered his head toward the metallic floor of the Bullhead.
"Look, we're almost back to Atlas. We've all been through a lot today, so we were planning to get something to eat. Are you up to join us? We can continue talking over breakfast." Clover continued.
His stomach growling like a pack of Beowolves, Evan looked back up.
"Sure, I might stick around for just a plate or two." Evan said aloud.
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Scarfing down two entire stacks of pancakes, the other Ace Ops looked on in disbelief. Harriet looked over to Marrow and whispered, "He's eating enough food to feed a family. Where does all that food even go?"
Shrugging, Marrow continued to stare at the disbelief.
"Sooooo, Evan, what was it like when you were transforming into that huge thing?" Marrow asked nervously.
In the midst of stuffing another pancake into his mouth, Evan responded, "It…It felt…so…intense. Staring at the moon filled my entire body with newfound energy. I felt like I could do anything honestly. But with that energy, there was this…rage…a primal rage that burned down to my very soul. It was like flying in a violent storm, unable to navigate. I was barely aware of my surroundings, and I wanted to channel that immense rage as I fought. It wasn't until I heard Elm calling out to me that I managed to awaken from that state I was in. Grasping onto my memories of her gave me a chance to readjust. They were like a lighthouse shining amidst that storm. Thanks to her, I was able to find my way out and come to my senses. I hope you guys can forgive me for what I put you all through, especially you Elm."
"Don't worry about it, Evan. Apology accepted." Elm answered back.
"Same here." Marrow replied now more relaxed.
A small smile crossing his face, Evan continued, "I'm still worried about how Ironwood's going to react once he hears the news about what happened at the mine. When did you say that we were going to be speaking with him about it, Clover?"
"Around 2 in the afternoon." Clover responded.
"Noted. Hopefully, things will turn out better than they did at the mine." Evan muttered out.
I'm sure everything will turn out alright, Evan. The General can be imposing, but his heart's in the right place. Things will be ok. On a lighter note, are you almost done eating yet? You've eaten like over 20 of those things." Marrow asked.
Swallowing another mouthful of pancakes, Evan turned to face him. "Honestly, I could go for seconds. Maybe some bacon would be good to go with it too."
The Ace Ops starred in utter confusion. Getting out of his seat, Evan held his arms up, stretching them outwards. "Well, if it's alright with you all, I think I'm going to head down to the training rooms for a bit. I need to clear my head with a good workout." Evan said aloud.
"That's fine with me. I'll be down there to get you when we have to go see the General." Clover replied back.
"See you later, kid!" Elm yelled out as she waved goodbye.
As Evan waved back and walked away from the cafeteria and approached the training room, he noticed a figure standing by the entrance to Training Room 4.
"Penny? What are you doing? Are you waiting for someone?" Evan questioned.
"Of course, I was waiting for you! You did say that you wanted to meet up again at Training Room 4, so I've been waiting for your arrival. Although, you've arrived much later than you did last time. Did something happen?" Penny asked with a curious look in her eyes.
"Oh yeah, um, I was on a mission last night. There were some…complications during the end of it. I was pretty exhausted afterwards, so I had some late Breakfast with the Ace Ops." Evan explained.
"Oh dear! Did a large horde of Grimm appear during it? Was anyone significantly injured during the mission?" Penny questioned with concern on her face.
"No, well…Elm got hurt a bit, but she's alright. C-Can we talk about something else. How's your Dad doing?" Evan asked, as a small frown crossed his face.
"My father's been doing great! He has just put the finishing touches on a new engine for the Atlesian airships. Earlier today, he had a discussion with Ironwood to begin testing the engine's capabilities. If all goes well, the engine should get the green light to be mass produced and implemented across not only Atlas's fleet, but potentially other ships and machinery! Needless to say, my father is very excited about the possibilities ahead." Penny said.
"I'm glad to hear it." Evan commented, still frowning.
"Thank you Evan. Although, I can see that you are still upset somewhat. Perhaps we could do some sort of activity together to help alleviate it. That's what friends do, right?" Penny elaborated.
"I…guess so. Did you have anything in mind?" Evan asked.
"How about a race? I'll have the room set up with a series of obstacles and the two of us have to navigate them and reach the finish line. I hear that physical exercise helps to promote a more positive attitude. So, would you like to challenge me?" Penny asked.
"Sure." Evan replied.
"Sensational! Just enter the room, and I'll program the room to create a track for the two of us!" Penny exclaimed.
Entering the room, Evan noticed the various squares on the floor began to shift and change. As numerous makeshift walls and hurdles appeared, Evan saw a few black cubes near him begin to change into white cubes. On the other side of the room, he saw the same thing happen as well.
Entering the room, Penny explained, "The white cubes represent the starting line, and the white cubes over there represent the finish line. Whoever reaches the finish line wins. So, are you ready Evan?"
Entering a running stance, he glanced over towards her, "Whenever you are."
"Very well, let the race start…NOW!" Penny announced.
As Evan sprinted forwards, he briefly saw Penny run past him in an orange and green blur.
"Man, she's faster than I thought. Well, I'm not about to give up so early on!" Evan thought to himself.
Pushing himself, he leaped over hurdle after hurdle. Soon faced with a massive wall, with a small opening at the bottom of it, Evan slid underneath. Getting back up, he began to catch up to and move past Penny.
"Prepare to eat my dust, Penny!" Evan yelled out.
"Dust is not an edible food, Evan! I sincerely hope that you haven't included that of all things into your regular meals." said Penny.
"It's just an expression Penny. It means that I'm about to beat you!" Evan briefly explained.
"Oh, my apologies. If that is the case, then I'm afraid that you are incorrect." Penny replied.
As the began to approach the finish line, Evan noticed something. In an instant, he saw two metal swords stick themselves into the wall ahead of them. It appeared as if the two of them were attached to thin, almost invisible wires. Suddenly, Penny began to be pulled forward, passing him by.
"When did she have those on her!? I'm going to need to pull out all the stops if I'm going to win this!" Evan contemplated.
Focusing, Evan began to float above the ground. Flying in the air, he pushed himself even further than before. His body sparking with energy, he launched himself forward towards the finish line. As he did so, a large grin began to form across his face.
As both racers crossed the finish line, Evan rapidly slowed himself back down, his body almost colliding with the wall at the end of the room.
"Did-Did I win?" he said as he turned towards Penny.
"Actually, it seems that I won by 0.0023 seconds." Penny explained as she pulled the swords out of the wall.
"What!? You're making that up! How do you even know that?" Evan questioned which caused Penny to clam up and look nervous.
"It's…It's my semblance. I can briefly slow my perception down to accurately pinpoint things like that." Penny replied with a small hiccup.
"Well whatever. If you did win, good game. I guess that means I'll just have to get better and challenge you again! Maybe I'll even beat you if we do it a second time. Come on! Best two out of three!" Evan proclaimed with a smile.
"Hey Evan! It's time." A voice could be heard as Evan looked to the entrance of the room to see Clover.
"Already? Sorry Penny, but I have to go see the General. I'll see you later." Evan replied hesistantly as his smile quickly changed back into a small frown.
"Goodbye Evan. I hope everything goes well!" Penny said kindly.
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Entering the office of General Ironwood, Evan's mind was racked with doubt. He was unsure as to what his fate would be. Would he be imprisoned for his actions? Would he be exiled and taken away from those that he started to bond with? The uncertainty of it all felt palpable within that very room. A sheen of sweat covered his face as he stood.
Standing in the middle of the room, he watched as Ironwood rose from his seat. His features remained neutral as he faced him. Briefly looking to his right, Clover turned to give him a small look of reassurance.
"Now Evan, you probably know why it is that you've been called here today." Ironwood responded.
Evan replied back with a slight nod of affirmation.
"I've already read the report that Clover and the rest of the Ace Ops had completed when they had returned from your initial mission. I believe that both of us were not expecting the transformation that you had undergone to have transpired during that mission." Ironwood continued.
Evan gave another nod in response as he looked to the ground in shame. His fists clenched in frustration and guilt.
"Now, while some would simply punish your actions for simply occurring at all, here at Atlas, we take into consideration all of the factors of the situation. We are willing to offer those with the opportunity to grow and improve. From the report, they said that you clearly seemed unaware of your surroundings during your rampage, but you were able to come to your senses once proper action was taken." Ironwood announced.
Evan slowly raised his head back up to face Ironwood.
"I can understand that you feel horrible regarding what happened. But in situations like these, you can either continue to let your mistakes define you, or you can choose to learn from them and strive to become better as a result. Now what would you rather wish to do, Evan?" Ironwood asked.
"I-I wish to improve from my mistakes, sir." Evan replied back to the General.
With a slight nod of approval, Ironwood continued, "Very good. Moving forward, I'm going to have you work with Pietro to see if we can't pinpoint what exactly causes you to transform. If we can determine that, we can take measures to make sure that what happened at the mine doesn't occur elsewhere. We will also see if you are able to fully control your transformation. If you are put into a situation where you have to transform, at least then you could use your immense strength to benefit those around you. You have many amazing talents and abilities, Evan, even if you don't fully understand all of them. If you're willing to put in the effort to improve, I can see great things in your future."
"Thank you so much, General! I'll complete whatever you ask of me to do in order to improve." Evan responded.
"I'll keep you informed as to when you'll be meeting up with Pietro. Until then, you both are excused." Ironwood replied.
As Evan and Clover walked out of the room. Ironwood returned to his desk. As Ironwood pressed a button on his keyboard, the computer came to life as he was soon met with a familiar face.
"It's good to see you again, James. I hope things over in Atlas have been going well, so as to not spoil our conversation." said Ozpin.
"Everything has been good for the most part. It's just that our new guest seems to be full of surprises." Ironwood responded back.
Raising an eyebrow, Ozpin inquired, "Really now? From what you've mentioned from our last chat, I thought him lacking an aura and a semblance was the biggest shock to the system. What happened?"
"Earlier this morning, he had transformed into an unstoppable beast once he gazed at the moon. Some of my best soldiers couldn't do much to stop him. He managed to collect himself and was able to put a stop to his rampage. I'm grateful that everyone made it out mostly unharmed. In addition, the event had occurred during a mission out in the tundra near an old mining operation. As such there were no civilians around that could be harmed or witness the event. I shudder to imagine the potential damage he could cause while in a major city. Considering what occurred at the mine, there's no doubt that he's an alien. You don't exactly see faunus morphing into massive creatures under the light of the moon. I just finished talking with him about the situation. From what I saw from him, I can understand why the young man feels so beaten up over what occurred. After discussing everything, he's willing to work with us in order to determine the cause of his transformations along with potentially controlling it as well. If he's going to be a huntsman who will fight for the people of Remnant, he can't just sit out during any conflicts at night." Ironwood explained.
"I suppose not. I am curious as to why he lacks an aura to begin with. Legends said that the God of Light and the God of Darkness create humanity with a soul, which is where our aura and semblances come from. Although, if that is to be believed, then this young man shouldn't be alive in the same way you or I are. Perhaps, mankind was created differently to how other alien species were made. Our aura and semblances might come from someplace else, and they are not intrinsically tied to our souls. With the school year rapidly approaching, and so many huntsmen-in-training once again filling my academy's halls, I'm excited to meet this traveler of the stars face to face. Do you intend to bring him to the Vytal festival this year?" Ozpin continued.
"If he is able to control that transformation of his, I can see that happening. If Evan is to become a defender of the people, it would certainly help to have him see more of the world beyond these icy plains." Ironwood responded.
"Well, if that is all, then I'm afraid that I'll have to cut our talk a bit short today. It seems Glynda has found even more paperwork to keep me busy. If you could continue to keep me informed about Evan, I would greatly appreciate it, James." Ozpin replied.
"Of course Ozpin, I hope to hear from you as well in the future. Until we meet again." said Ironwood as he ended the call.
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Hello! I'm back with another chapter! I'm sorry that it took so long for this one to come out. Life has kept me very busy. I'll try to get another chapter out sometime next weekend if everything goes well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and let me know your thoughts on the story so far!
